The Long Hill Township, N.J., Police Department is seeking the public's help in finding David Bird. / Long Hill Township, N.J., Police Department

by Melanie Eversley, USA TODAY

by Melanie Eversley, USA TODAY

The Wall Street Journal reporter missing since Saturday, Jan. 11, ran the ING New York City Marathon in November to show other transplant recipients there is life after the surgery, a pastor in his northern New Jersey community says.

David Bird underwent a liver transplant nine years ago, said Rev. Victoria McGrath of All Saints Episcopal Church in Millington, N.J., site of a Monday night prayer service for the missing 55-year-old husband and father.

"Part of his doing that was to be able to show other transplant recipients that they can go on and live a full life and all kinds of things," McGrath said in a telephone interview.

Part of the concern of Bird's family and friends is that he must take anti-rejection drugs for his transplanted liver twice a day.

Bird, of Long Hill Township, N.J., told his family he was going out for a walk Saturday afternoon and did not return, according to the Long Hill Township Police Department.

Various agencies are now in on a massive search and investigation, which now includes the New Jersey State Police Aviation Bureau and the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.

Bird has worked for Dow Jones for more than 20 years and covers energy markets for the Wall Street Journal.

Since his disappearance, various theories have floated through the news media, including reports from some news organizations that indicated sources said Bird's credit card has been used in Mexico. Those reports have not been founded.

McGrath said she knows Bird through the local Boy Scout troop committee. Bird is a Boy Scout troop leader, she said.

"Everybody in the community thinks very highly of him," McGrath said. "He's always willing to lend a hand with all kinds of community projects."

She added, "He's just a wonderful, caring person and is involved with a lot of different efforts in the community. Scouts are what he's most known for and (he's) also an avid hiker and camper and backpacker, which is why this is all such a mystery that has happened. This is very much unexplainable."

Bird is 6'1" and 200 pounds, according to the police department. When he left home, he was wearing a red jacket, jeans, sneakers and glasses, according to a poster distributed by the department.The department's Facebook page is filled with updates on the search.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Long Hill Township Police Department at (908) 647-1800.